Programs Focused on Diversifying Medical Pipeline

Lawsuit: University of Dayton Covered Up Football Team Hazing Claims

by Associated Press

DAYTON, Ohio — A new lawsuit claims the University of Dayton covered up allegations of hazing connected to the school’s football team by ensuring that a UD police investigation never reached local officials. Max Engelhart, a former UD student and offensive lineman, filed the lawsuit against the western Ohio school, its football coach and others […]

Woman Guilty of Embezzling $200,000 from Education Nonprofit

by Associated Press

EUGENE, Ore. — A Eugene woman has pleaded guilty to embezzling over $200,000 from a nonprofit that promotes career and technical education programs for Oregon high school and community college students. The Register-Guard reports 74-year-old Thelma Clemons pleaded guilty to wire fraud Wednesday related to her attempt to cover up thefts that she carried out […]

Report: Housing, Food Insecurities on Rise for Community College Students

Audit Questions Luna Community College Hiring, Pay

by Associated Press

LAS VEGAS, N.M. ― A recently completed special audit of a Las Vegas, New Mexico, community college is questioning the schools hiring practices. The Las Vegas Optic reports that according to the report there were multiple instances of family members of the Luna Community College president and board members receiving jobs, promotions and substantial pay […]

Ex-Wichita State University Worker Files Discrimination Suit

by Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. ― A former Wichita State University administrative assistant filed a federal lawsuit accusing the university of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Vicki Huntoon said in the lawsuit that she was fired from the university because of her generalized anxiety disorder after two doctors diagnosed the disorder and she requested to work […]

University of Illinois Strengthening Ties with Mexico

by Associated Press

URBANA, Ill. — The University of Illinois is strengthening its ties with Mexico through new academic and research partnerships. The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports university President Tim Killeen signed agreements during a trip to Mexico last week. He says they are part of the university’s efforts to diversify international student enrollment and increase its global impact. […]

University of Akron Calling for Buyouts, Recruitment Boost

by Associated Press

AKRON, Ohio —The University of Akron plans to offer voluntary buyouts to employees, increase recruiting efforts of international students and restructure its scholarship system to address a looming deficit and declining enrollment. University of Akron President Matt Wilson outlined a two-year plan last week to shore up the school’s finances. The university hopes to finalize […]

Lawsuit: University of Dayton Covered Up Football Team Hazing Claims

by Associated Press

DAYTON, Ohio — A new lawsuit claims the University of Dayton covered up allegations of hazing connected to the school’s football team by ensuring that a UD police investigation never reached local officials. Max Engelhart, a former UD student and offensive lineman, filed the lawsuit against the western Ohio school, its football coach and others […]

Saint Augustine’s University, Bennett College on Probation

by Reginald Stuart

Two of the nation’s oldest historically Black colleges were placed on probation Tuesday by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), signaling the two North Carolina institutions continue to battle financial challenges.

Protests Bring Out Angry Millennials in Chicago

Arkansas School of Law Dean Ever Mindful of Native American Heritage, Mentoring

by Christina Sturdivant

When Stacy Leeds accepted the position of dean at the University of Arkansas School of Law, she made history. Since 2011, she’s served as the only known Native American woman to lead a law school in the country.

Guiyou Huang Named LSU-Alexandria Chancellor

by Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana State University-Alexandria has a new chancellor. LSU President F. King Alexander announced in a news release Tuesday Guiyou Huang will take over the chancellor’s post on Jan. 1. Huang is currently the senior vice president for academic affairs, dean of the faculty and professor of English at Norwich University, in […]

Protests Bring Out Angry Millennials in Chicago

Virginia Tech President Wants to Double Minority Enrollments

by Associated Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. ― Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands is calling on the university to double its enrollment of underrepresented minority groups over the next six years. The Roanoke Times reports that currently, about 12 percent of Tech’s students are Black, Hispanic or of Pacific Islander descent. Sands said during a board of visitors meeting Monday […]

Oregonian Analysis: State College Enrollment Diversifies

by Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — The number of Latino and multiracial students attending Oregon’s public universities has more than doubled in the past seven years, according to an analysis of enrollment records by a Portland newspaper. The state’s public universities collectively saw enrollment rise 5 percent from 2010 to 2016, largely because of an influx of minority […]

University of Illinois Strengthening Ties with Mexico

by Associated Press

URBANA, Ill. — The University of Illinois is strengthening its ties with Mexico through new academic and research partnerships. The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports university President Tim Killeen signed agreements during a trip to Mexico last week. He says they are part of the university’s efforts to diversify international student enrollment and increase its global impact. […]

Diverse Conversations: What Professor Esolen Gets Right About Diversity

by Matthew Lynch

History professor Anthony Esolen recently came under fire when he penned an article for Crisis magazine that questioned the push for diversity at his workplace: Catholic institution Providence College.

Texas Program ‘Guarantees’ Technical Jobs After Graduation

Regents Name Richard Myers New Kansas State President

by John Hanna, Associated Press

MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas Board of Regents on Tuesday made Richard Myers, a retired four-star general and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, president at Kansas State University, promoting him after he served as interim president since April. The regents voted unanimously to promote Myers to president of the land-grant university in Manhattan, which […]

A female professor who was passed over as chair of the School of Mass Communication can pursue a retaliation claim against North Carolina Central University but not claims for sex discrimination or a hostile work environment.

Fighting Environmental Racism

The National Conference of Black Mayors unveiled a partnership Friday with environmental consultants Envirosource and Historically Black Colleges and Universities aimed at studying the impact of landfills on African-American communities.

Robert Bowser, mayor of East Orange, N.J. and president of the National Conference of Black Mayors, said that 2,800 of the 3,000 landfills in the U.S. today are located in African-American communities.

“There’s a lot that can be done, as far as cleaning up the landfills that we already have,” Bowser said. The National Conference of Black Mayors is having its annual convention in Baton Rouge this week.

In addition, Bowser said the HBCUs and minority-owned Envirosource are looking at alternative disposal methods that are a lot cleaner that traditional landfills. The catch is that the alternative disposal methods require more volume than smaller cities can generate, he said.

“A lot of our cities are not that big, and the disposal methods that we’re going to talk about tomorrow need a certain amount of volume of business to operate. So we may have to look at combining two or three or four communities together to get the volume they need,” Bowser said.

On behalf of Envirosource, Don Baylor said his company wants to work with the National Conference of Black Mayors and the HBCUs to develop plans to educate municipalities about the problems associated with environmental racism, to promote green alternatives to traditional landfills and toxic waste dumps, and to help empower minority populations that are adversely impact by those dumping facilities.

Baylor introduced Sheila Holt-Orstead of Dickson, Tenn. as a poster child of the impact of environmental racism. Holt-Orstead noted that Dickson County officials built a dump next to her family’s farm in 1968, and allowed toxic waste to be dumped there over the years.

Holt-Orstead said her family was told in 2000 not to drink water because of contamination from the landfill.

Holt-Orstead noted that through a search of public records, she learned that letters were sent years earlier to White families who lived around the landfill, warning them not to drink or even bathe in water from their wells due to toxic contamination.

Holt-Orstead said she returned to the farm for a Christmas visit in 2002 to learn that her entire family had cancer. When Holt-Orstead underwent a checkup a short time later, she was told that she had breast cancer.

Her father eventually died of cancer, and she has filed a lawsuit against several agencies, including Dickson County.

“I’ve been told that the people we are suing are just waiting for me to die. They feel that time is on their side,” Holt-Orstead said.

Holt-Orstead said she attended the National Conference of Black Mayors convention to help raise awareness among the Democratic presidential candidates there about environmental racism.

Four Democratic presidential candidates are slated to visit the convention in Baton Rouge this week: U.S. Sen. Hilary Clinton, D-New York; U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois; former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-North Carolina; and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Baylor noted that the problems associated with environmental racism are not just limited to contaminated drinking water. Baylor pointed to a 2002 study that showed 71 percent of African-Americans in the U.S. resided in counties that violated federal air pollution standards, compared with 58 percent of the White population.

As part of the new partnership, Baylor said his company and the National Conference of Black Mayors intends to work with HBCU researchers like Dr. Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

“We’re not a think tank, we’re an act tank,” Bullard said, noting that the center has worked with the Holt family and others to battle environmental racism.

Bullard has published several books and papers on environmental racism, including “Dumping on Dixie.”

Hundreds Protest White Nationalist’s Speech at Texas A&M COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Hundreds of people protested a White nationalist’s speaking engagement at the Texas A&M University campus.
Several groups protested outside of the student center Tuesday night during and before the appearance by Richar...

Expect the Unexpected, Say College Disaster Prep Officials When Jefferson Community College was making plans to build its first residence hall, there was one must-have for President Carole McCoy: generators for backup if the power went out.
With her campus in Watertown, New York in the bulls-eye of more t...